Spring of Drowned Miyah!
by Sopchoppy
Summary: Ranma falls into a rather Unique spring. Ranma Tenchi Cross.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Just a silly idea the popped into my head when I needed a break from writing chapter 5 of "A Senshi of Earth" I know next to nothing about Tenchi, just a few episodes and a few fanfics, so please don't take this to seriously. To anyone concerned about "Ranma the Hex Factor" I am working on it.  
  
From the little research I did I found that Ryo-Ohki could not originally take human form, but gained this ability later as a result from being exposed to Mass. For this story assume that her three forms – cabbit, ship, and teenager are all standard.  
  
Disclaimer: The story you are reading does not exist, it is merely a figment of your imagination and thus you have only yourself to blame for it.  
  
Spring of Drowned....MIYAH!  
  
"Oh no, you fall into spring of crashed spaceship, tragic story of spaceship that crashed here 700 years ago and create spring. Not sure why young Mr. Customer resemble furry girl, no one ever fall into that spring before."  
  
Ranma surfaced from the pool and immediately knew that something, everything was horribly wrong. Looking down caused him..her to scream.  
  
"MIYAH!" This sound of course was not conducive to Ranma's state of mind. The last thing that the Jusenkyo guide and the damp panda saw was the brown furred girl running as if all the hounds of hell were after her.  
  
[Unknown Location in the wilds of China, 4 hours later]  
  
Ranma had finally come to the realization that it was herself that was making that terrible sound and so had come to rest against a fallen tree, exhausted. She took another look at herself and grimaced. It was like the Kami were purposefully punishing him, a combination of the two worst things he could have transformed into. 'Just my luck. Stupid old man, getting me turned into some weird ca...ca...feline girl,' Ranma thought disconsolately. She took some of her now much longer hair in furred cover hands and pulled the blue white locks in front of her face and stared dumbly at it for a while before breaking down in tears. 'How am I going to live like this?' Ranma asked desperately in his mind. No response was forthcoming.  
  
[Masaki Shrine 4 months Later]  
  
Dressed in a long cloak with the hood pulled far over her head Ranma walked under the entrance to the shrine cautiously and started to make her way towards the house, the house that the pull was coming from. Ranma had learned early on to conceal her appearance. It wasn't that she was hideous, though her slight cat like features still made her a little nervous, but simply her furred body, long ears, and cat like eyes attracted far to much attention. Even after four months of being like this it was hard to accept that she was both a girl, thus worthless and weak, and a cat – one of the most vile creatures on the planet. Ranma tried not to think about the time she had nearly lost his mind when she had somehow turned herself into some very catlike creature. It had taken her three days to figure out how to change back, and had been one of the most nerve wracking experiences of her life. What was worse was the fact that she couldn't even speak right. With the greatest amount of concentration she could get out simple sentences, otherwise she slipped into making that dreaded sound. Needless to say she had become a virtual mute. She stopped by a tree some two hundred meters from the house and examined it. The feeling was defiantly coming from there. Since she had come back to her senses four months ago she had felt a slight, but ever present pull in her mind. Not knowing what it was, and not having anything else to do now that her life was essentially over she had followed it. Now that the trail was at an end she was a little at a loss of what to do. A brief image of her walking up to the door throwing off her hood and demanding to speak with their leader caused her to descend into a nervous meow-like laugh, which quickly brought her day dream to an end.  
  
While she was still thinking about the best way to approach the occupants of the house the door of the house blew apart and out ran a woman with spiky platinum hair. 'Hair like mine!' Ranma thought excitedly and she suddenly knew that this was the person she had been being drawn to all this time. Right after she had made this conclusion another girl ran out of the house, seeming to be surrounded by small floating objects that were crackling with energy. Seeing the girl preparing to attack the one she had been being pulled to a sudden intense protective desire welled up in her. Always one to go with her instincts she leapt from her concealment and not really knowing how, nearly instantly appeared before the attacker. Again never one to hesitate in a battlefield situation she lashed out with a vicious roundhouse that sent the girl sprawling, her leg going numb on contact.  
  
Ryoko stared in shock as the cloaked figure appeared before the princess and leveled her with a kick. Not that she was going to complain about someone putting her highness in her place, but nevertheless it was surprising. Putting on a cautious smile, but staying ready to defend herself Ryoko approached the figure who slowly turned towards her. She gasped in shock when the figure stepped towards her and pulled back the hood of her cloak.  
  
"Ryo-Ohki?!"  
  
Ranma quickly tried to respond, so of course the only thing that came out was "Miyah."  
  
Ryoko then threw her arms around the startled girl and twirled her around a few times. "Ryo-Ohki where have you been all this time? Why didn't you contact me telepathically? In fact how come I can't sense you the way I should? Where have you been? Washu will flip; she thought you were a gonner. Wait till you meet Tenchi, just don't get any ideas he's mine." Ryoko was smiling broadly as she set the furry girl back on the ground and Ranma fought to gain enough concentration to speak.  
  
"Miy...gomen...My name is...Ran..ma.....was....drawn....you.....don't know....why." Ryoko frowned slightly before brightening again.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll talk to Washu, she'll figure it out, by the way nice hit on the princess there." Ranma glanced back to where said princess was still on the ground unconscious. She felt a little guilty but after passing through some sort of weird village in china she had grown a lot less hesitant about hitting girls.  
  
"myi...Thanks"  
  
Ryoko draped an arm over who she was sure was her friend, If a bit confused about her identity, and led her into the house.  
  
To Be continued?...Possibly. 


	2. Chapter 2 & 3

AN: By popular demand, and I admit an ever increasing intrigue to where this story can go, I bring you the continuation of SDM. These first few chapters will most likely revolve around the Tenchi cast, however I am suspecting that the Ranma cast will gradually become more involved over time.  
  
Spring of Drowned...Miyah!  
  
Chapter 2: Want to be Friends?  
  
Ranma let herself be led into the house by the hand, nervous about meeting the people that lived here. After four months without human contact and being scared of her own voice the formerly over-confident martial artist had actually become quite shy, unless she was in a fight. The platinum- haired girl seemed to give off a feeling of comfort and protection that Ranma was hard pressed to deny. It felt good to be near this person, something she hoped to find the reason for.  
  
When Ranma and Ryoko stepped into the house they were greeted to the sight of three people slowly standing up from behind an overturned couch, all were posed as if ready to dive for cover at any moment. A young girl, a teenaged boy, and a middle aged man looked wearily towards them. A fourth person, an old man, stood in the corner seemingly indifferent to what was happening. Ranma however noticed that the old man's eyes had locked onto her the second she came in. He seemed to recognize her in some way.  
  
"Is it over?" Tenchi asked as he finished standing up straight. "Who's your friend Ryoko?"  
  
"Yeah it's over Tenchi; Ryo-Ohki here laid her highness out with one kick. Ryo-Ohki is my partner from the my space pirating days, I thought she died when she crashed into those mountains 700 years ago, right before Yosho sealed me in that cave." Ranma was visibly shaking her head back and forth.  
  
"Crashed?" Tenchi asked hesitantly.  
  
"Oh yeah, Ryo-Ohki's really a space ship. How else did you think I got around?" Ryoko asked. The other occupants of the room noticed that this news seemed to be as great of shock to Ryo-Ohki as it was to them. She had turned to face the platinum-haired woman with an incredulous look while still shaking her head.  
  
"Miyah!" Ranma said in a frustrated tone, to flustered to concentrate on speaking.  
  
"She seems to not remember a lot of that though, I am going to take her down to Washu and see if she can help her." Ranma noticed that the small pink eyed girl with the twin ponytails that had been hiding behind the couch had slowly been making her way closer to her. Ranma couldn't recall ever having seen a cuter kid. She reached out and nervously touched Ranma's arm and ran her hand down the smooth soft fur. Her eyes got a sense of wonder while Ranma had to admit that it felt good having someone run their hands through her fur.  
  
The girl stepped back with a wide smile on her face. "Hi I'm Sasami. Do you want to be friends?" One part of Ranma wanted to chuckle at the little girl's gesture, but to her surprise it was vastly outweighed by an unfamiliar sense of warmth she felt at the offer. Ranma in that moment realized how lonely his/her life had been for the past ten years. She found herself nodding emphatically to the girl. "Great!" Sasami exclaimed before hugging Ranma around the waist. "I'm going to make you a special welcome home dinner!" Ranma's eyes widened in wonder. 'Home,' Ranma thought with a hushed reverence in her mind. Ryoko smirked at this, Ryo- Ohki was always a soft touch, and maturity wise would probably get along with Sasami great.  
  
"Ok, We'll finish the introductions later, right now I've got to get Ryo- Ohki down to Washu's Lab, she's going to really flip, and she'll make my life more miserable than she already does if she finds I was wasting time up here before going to her." With that Ryoko seized Ranma's hand again and pulled her down the hall and into the closet.  
  
[Washu's Lab]  
  
Ryoko led Ranma around a corner and came to a stop in front of where Washu was working on a...device....of some kind. She looked up at the sound of footsteps before quickly looking back to her work. After a brief moment her head jerked up in shock and she stared at Ranma.  
  
"Ryo-Ohki! You're alive!" The diminutive scientist yelled before running over and hugging the girl who was once again valiantly trying to shake her head.  
  
"Miyah!"  
  
"Ryo-Ohki why aren't you communicating telepathically? Washu stepped back and pulled a scanning device out of nowhere. "Oh you seem to have a chaotic energy field that's been applied to you preventing you from linking to myself or Ryoko. Don't worry Ryo-Ohki Washu-chan will fix you right up." The scientist hugged Ranma again. "It's like the whole family is together again." Ryoko smiled at this and for once didn't ridicule Washu about it. Washu pulled Ranma quite forcibly down the corridor until she came to a stop in front of a large vertical chamber, shoving Ranma in before she could even get out a startled 'Miyah' she sealed the door and entered a series of commands on a keypad beside the door. A glowing green disk started to descend from the top of the tube reaching the bottom it then slowly moved back up the tube to its original location.  
  
The machine made a sound like some sort of oven timer before the doors cracked open and out stepped a slightly dazed Ranma.  
  
"Ah good the chaotic energy has been integrated into your system and your link with me seems to be back, Ryoko?"  
  
"Yes it's there." She then sent Ranma a question. {So what happened to you?}  
  
Ranma startled at the telepathic comment, but then realized that if she could talk back to them this way, she could finally explain to these nice, if weird, people their mistake. Concentrating she felt the links in her mind and she sent back {I'm Ranma Saotome, I'm not Ryo-Ohki}  
  
Washu chuckled at this, {Oh I think you are, why don't you send us what you remember and we can start sorting out how you have forgotten yourself in the intervening years.}  
  
So Ranma sent, and with the speed of telepathy it wasn't a half-hour later before both Washu and Ryoko were very intimate with the facts of Ranma's life to this point. Had Ranma been more experienced at this type of communication she might have edited out certain parts As it was Ranma gave them a show that put 'this is your life' to shame.  
  
Ryoko was trying to choke back bitter tears, the hope of having her long time partner back, gone again. Drowned in a pool 700 years ago and she had to experience having her hope taken away again. Washu simply wore a somber smile. She grieved more for the lonely and painful life that Ranma had lived through. Having too much experience with that herself, she felt empathy towards Ranma immediately. Besides she knew something that Ryoko didn't. Maybe she could cheer her daughter up.  
  
"Don't cry daughter, Ryo-Ohki lives." Washu stated, causing the former space pirate and Ranma to turn towards her.  
  
"What do you mean Washu?" Deliberately leaving off the –chan."  
  
"If you were paying more attention to the link you would understand."  
  
Ryoko concentrated for a moment and Ranma got a funny sensation that passed as soon as it came. "What...How, and if it is her why doesn't she have any of her memories and all these others?"  
  
"It's simple really." Washu said suddenly standing on a podium in professor's robes and a diagram of the springs with lots of unusual calculations scribbled over it. "The chaotic energy matrix stored in the water of the spring literally captured the essence of Ryo-Ohki in it, which was released and imbued into Ranma when he fell into it. Ranma may not have Ryo-Ohki's memories, but she certainly has her 'spirit' She's far more Ryo-Ohki than just her physical form. No, what was Ranma's and Ryo-Ohki's essence have blended quite seamlessly. While she doesn't nor will ever have Ryo-Ohki's memories, I expect her core personality to be a rather interesting blend of the two. Having watched his/her memories from both before and after his dunking, I think it's fairly obvious."  
  
Ryoko stood there in silence as she reviewed what she had been shown, and what she had felt through the link, and then smiled broadly. She might not have her old friend back, at least not in the way she thought, but she was pretty sure that she had a new one that her friend lived on in. She reached over and in a rare show of emotion (for anyone other than Tenchi) hugged the brown furred girl.  
  
Ranma's mind was still swirling from all the information she had just received, but she still had enough presence of mind to gingerly return the hug. 'I hadn't even realized how much I had changed'  
  
Washu looked at her laptop before turning back to the two girls, "By the way, it looks like Sasami is almost done with dinner." By the end of the sentence she was addressing and empty room. She smiled, 'yes I do believe things are going to work out. Now to start to work on eliminating the Neko- ken and some of those pesky inhibitions that Ranma seems to have picked up.' This thought was of course followed by a patented Washu cackle of evil.  
  
Chapter 3: Cabbit ½ or ½ Cabbit  
  
Ranma and Ryoko appeared at the table just as Sasami was setting down the last plate. The others were already seated around the table waiting patiently. Before digging in Ryoko spoke.  
  
"Everyone, it seems I was wrong, this isn't my old partner Ryo-Ohki, her name is actually Ranma, but she's going to be my new partner right?" Ranma found herself smiling despite herself and nodding. She then saw the scowling bruised face of Ayeka and cringed a bit.  
  
"Miyah." Ryoko turned to her for a second then to Ayeka  
  
"Ranma says she's sorry for hitting you, and she's right she should have just let me kick your butt." Ranma was somewhat miffed at needing an interpreter, especially one that seemed to need to add her own comments, but she supposed it was better than struggling to say everything. It was unnerving having such an intimate connection to Ryoko and Washu.  
  
"Ryoko." Ayeka growled in a low voice. Tenchi quickly spoke up to head off a fight.  
  
"So ah Ranma, It's nice to meet you I guess you'll be staying here as well?" Ranma went to turn to Ryoko to ask but suddenly she wasn't there. Turning back she saw her wrapped around Tenchi and purring.  
  
"Oh course she'll be staying here Ten..chi. In fact we do e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g together." Ryoko said huskily as traced her finger along Tenchi's chest. This caused Tenchi to blush crimson and Ranma to choke on the mouthful of rice she was eating and start vehemently shaking her head.  
  
"Miyah, Miyah!"  
  
"R.y.o.k.o." Ayeka growled a little louder.  
  
Ryoko simply laughed and disengaged herself from Tenchi. "Oh relax, I was only kidding." She said mischievously. "Besides," gesturing to Ranma, "She's only into girls." This last was followed by a wink at Ayeka that caused her to stop growling and start making warding gestures in front of her. It also caused Tenchi's father to sputter and get and inordinately silly grin on his face. Through it all Yosho ate his meal seemingly unaffected except for a ghost of a smile and Sasami smiled cheerfully happy that her new friend seemed to be enjoying her dinner so much, especially the sliced carrots.  
  
Ranma sighed as she entered the elaborate bath house, amazed, even though she had been warned about it. Sitting down on a stool she then spent the next 45 minutes scrubbing her fur and hair with more shampoo then she had ever used in her life. Rinsing off it felt good to be really clean for the first time in months, it was just impossible to get totally clean bathing in streams and lakes. Standing up she walked over and stepped down into the steaming pool.  
  
A resounding "MIYAH!" was heard throughout the Masaki house.  
  
Ranma looked down at he..himself. He was male again! How had this happened? His fur seemed to have thinned and lightened making him look more beige than the rich brown of before. Looking down at his reflection in the water his hair was still a bluish white, but it had shortened to its original length and no longer seemed to defy gravity. His ears had shortened considerably as well and now looked more elfin than the rabbit like ones that he had a moment ago. He didn't know what just happened, but at least he was male again!  
  
Suddenly Washu appeared out of nowhere cackling about guinea pigs and before he could protest she grabbed him and they disappeared from the bath. A shocked group left standing at the doorway.  
  
[Washu's Lab Sometime Later]  
  
Ranma shuddered as Washu finally released him from where she had strapped him down to the table. It had been a horrifying four hour experience that rivaled the Neko-ken for trauma and puncture marks.  
  
"Well now Ran-Ohki, I think I can explain what happened and," she snapped her fingers causing a bucket of water to appear above Ranma's head splashing him and returning him to female form. "How it operates." Ranma was somewhat puzzled at the name and somewhat irritated at the water, but she wanted to find out and she also knew it wasn't wise to complain to Washu-chan. Washu once again appeared in her academy of science robes and went into lecture mode. "It would appear that the chaotic energy matrix of the spring water not only imbued you with Ryo-Ohki's essence, but also stored your original form in a subspace field as a energy construct triggered by the application of sufficiently excited molecules in a liquid state. I am a Genius!"  
  
Somewhere a cricket chirped.  
  
Washu sighed. "You turn back to normal in hot water." She demonstrated by another bucket over Ranma's head. Ranma looked down on himself and then back at Washu, question evident.  
  
"Miyah!" {What do you mean normal?}  
  
Washu actually seemed nervous for a split second before resuming her usual cheery tone. "Well since the chaotic energy matrix was integrated to enable your telepathic link with me and Ryoko to operate, it overlaid your original template with your new one causing it to be a fusion of the two. It will be quite interesting to see what you are capable of in this form."  
  
Ranma took a minute to digest this before briefly scowling at a once again nervous looking Washu. He sensed through the link that she was actually upset at what she had done, and once again demonstrating how much he had changed he reached out and hugged the diminutive scientist.  
  
Washu was startled for a moment before eagerly returning the hug. Her eyes misted a bit. It had been so long since anyone had shown her genuine affection. After a moment Washu broke the hug and smiled up at Ranma.  
  
"Thank you for that Ran-Ohki-chan."  
  
Ranma looked at her in question.  
  
"Well, you're both." Washu said with a hint of longing in her tone that Ranma caught both telepathically and by ear. Several bits and pieces of conversations between Ryoko and Washu as well as mutterings that Washu had made suddenly clicked in Ranma's mind.  
  
"Miyah." {It fits....Mom?}  
  
This time Washu's eyes did more than mist when Ranma pulled her into a hug. The newly dubbed Ran-Ohki's just might have become more than a little moist as well.  
  
Sitting on the roof watching through her link with Ranma Ryoko smiled through her tears.  
  
This is going to be somewhat of a special name between Washu and Ranma; the others will still refer to him/her as Ranma. 


	3. Chapter 4: Along for the Ride

AN: Well I've learned a few things from the reviews I have received.

You like cabbits

You want longer chapters

I have endeavored to give both to you here. I hope you enjoy it, let me know. Also several people have written concerning possible matchups. I have to tell you that my stories are often as big a surprise to me as they are you; I simply write and see where I end up. Ending chapters at what appears to be good stopping points. So as for a final matchup your guess would be as good as mine, though in this chapter you should defiantly pick up on one of the strongest contenders. I was somewhat nervous about writing this chapter; having wanted to find and watch the OAV series before I continued writing so I could better represent some of the characters. Unfortunately I haven't been able to track down anyone in my area that has it. Once I do I will probably be going back to revise the characters a bit to better fit the story to the series, but for now you will have to live with what my overactive imagination gives you.

AN2: To those following A Senshi of Earth, I am about 60 done with the next chapter and currently working on it daily. It should be at least as long as this hopefully longer. Sorry for the long delay between updates by my inspiration/motivation comes in spurts. Enjoy.

Spring of Drowned...Miyah!

Chapter 4: Along For The Ride

Ranma lay across Sasami's shoulder and watched through the kitchen window as another fight began to brew between Ryoko and Ayeka. She disliked her cabbit form because it made her feel small and helpless, mentioning this to Washu had only made the immature scientist fall down laughing. She had to admit, albeit reluctantly, that there was something comforting and relaxing about being on Sasami's shoulder and just watching the world go by for once. She couldn't think of any time in her life that she had ever been allowed to slow down; she didn't think that she could do it forever, but it was a nice change of pace for awhile.

She was in cabbit form to begin with because Washu had said that she needed to get used to all of her forms, and though Washu and shown her the mental triggers for her space ship form, she didn't think she was ready to go quite that far. So right now she had three forms to go between: cabbit, female, and male. They had found through another extensive session in Washu's lab....

Flashback

"This test will determine your ability to survive at extreme temperatures."

"Huh?"

Flames spewed forth from the nozzle of the flamethrower.

End Flashback

that she could force the shift to cabbit mode when in male form, but it automatically pushed her back into her Jusenkyo form. Washu had some long explanation for it but it amounted to the fact that she could go from male to female, cabbit, or ship (theoretically) by simply willing it to happen, whereas to go back male she had to be in her humanesk form and be hit by hot water. She did retain the ability to phase in male form; it was just a little bit harder than when in her female guise.

The truly irksome thing was still her speech however. She found it somewhat easier to talk in male guise, about the same change in difficulty that phasing was in reverse. She could phrase complete sentences and not sound quite so childish, as long as she thought about them for a minute, so conversations always had these delays like you were speaking to her over satellite phone. This was of course excluding Washu and Ryoko, where communication happened on a level that she hadn't even believed possible. The sheer amount of information conveyed by the link could hardly even be considered speech; ideas, images, feelings and nuances all transmitted at the same time. It was less talking and more like sharing your whole being. Which sometimes when she thought about it unnerved her to no end. She had found that Ryoko and Washu could even, whenever they wanted to, basically see exactly what she was seeing, wherever she was. How was she supposed to deal with the fact that two women, could at any time, know what she was thinking. Whenever an embarrassing thought had surfaced she had the urge to look over her shoulder to see if Ryoko was laughing at her, and sometimes she was.

All in all in was a lot better than the past four months had been, heck, better than the last ten years had been. She loved her father and her art, but it had been a lonely and tiring ten years. Now she felt like she had a family and friends and she was determined to enjoy them for awhile before even thinking about seeking out her father. 'Stupid panda.' She gave a silent laugh as she watched Tenchi get blasted into a tree by Ayeka who looked in shock at what she had done. Over the past couple of years she had noticed couples and often time longed for the kind of intimate friendship she had seen. Looking at Tenchi, she decided that there could indeed be too much of a good thing.

Tokyo, Japan

Genma sighed as the rain began to fall. This was going to make reuniting with Soun a little more difficult. He had lost his Son's trail when he had crossed back over into Japan and now his only hope was that word would reach him at Soun's place of someone sighting his son's cursed form, or that his son would try to seek out him or his mother. Genma shuddered, 'I must keep Ranma away from his mother until a cure is found.'

Turning into the Tendo Compound, Genma straightened his back and knocked on the door. After a moment a pleasant looking young woman in a house dress answered the door.

"Oh, My!"

Genma held up a sign, Is Soun In?

Kasumi blinked for a moment before her smile returned and called out for her father.

"Father, there's a Panda at the door for you."

Genma simply let out a defeated sigh.

Masaki Household

Ranma strode outside, once again his original gender if not his original species. Walking up to Tenchi, who was slowly pulling himself out of a crater that had formed around him when the Ayeka's and Ryoko's attacks had met. Tenchi gratefully accepted Ranma's outstretched hand and dusted himself off.

"....You want to spar?" Ranma asked hoping to get some exercise in and having noticed Tenchi practicing some complex sword forms earlier. Tenchi considered for a moment before deciding that accidental abuse by super-powered girls and his grandfather was enough without volunteering for more of it.

"Maybe another time Ranma," Tenchi said putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder, "I'm sort of beat right now."

Ranma was a little disappointed but laughed at Tenchi's self-deprecating humor. Nodding at Tenchi he decided to try and seek out another person to spar with.

Gobi Desert

Ryouga walked determinedly forward, ever forward, 'Ranma you think that just because you turned into some weird girl you can escape our man to man fight!? Soon Ranma I will find you and I will have my revenge.'

Masaki Shrine

Ranma used her link with Ryoko to track her to the roof, where the former space pirate was sulking. Tenchi had been rather irritated at both the girls and had rebuked them when they offered to help him tend to his injuries. She had willed herself female a moment ago, being more comfortable asking Ryoko this way.

"Miyah." Want to spar?

Ryoko seemed deep in thought for a moment before smiling good naturedly up at Ranma.

"I've never fought someone just for the fun of it before, sure I always have fun, but it's always been for some other reason. Sure, sounds like a blast." Ryoko said this last bit with so much mischievousness in her voice that Ranma started to wonder if this was such a good idea after all.

They moved to a cleared area behind the house and faced off against each other; suddenly Ryoko disappeared and reappeared behind Ranma, knocking her sprawling with a kick to the back. Ranma flipped over and stared with a feral grin on her face before leaping up and engaging Ryoko in aerial combat.

Masaki House

Tenchi rushed in the door and panted as he held onto the doorframe. Yosho, Sasami, and Washu all stared at him expectantly.

"Ryoko is fighting Ranma!"

As soon as the sentence was out of his mouth he was suddenly run over as the three rushed out of the house

Masaki Shrine

Yosho, Sasami, Washu, and Tenchi all watched from a safe distance the amazing display before them. Ranma and Ryoko blurred, disappeared, reappeared, and attacked in what looked like the martial arts equivalent to an aerial dogfight. Washu watched intently, eating popcorn from a bowl and studying Ranma's progress with her powers. It was clear that Ryoko had the advantage; her levitation was much smoother and more controlled than Ranma's and her teleporting more precise. Ranma also hadn't figured out how to do any ranged attacks while Ryoko was littering the shrine grounds with craters. Ranma though was being surprising resilient and ever so often was able to completely surprise and close with Ryoko for a moment before she once again outmaneuvered her and got enough distance to bombard her with energy blasts. Suddenly Ryoko got in a powerful blast at close range that left Ranma embedded four feet into the ground. Before she could continue the attack the brown-furred girl made a begging off gesture with a functioning limb.

Sasami and Tenchi rushed over to the hole and gingerly pulled Ranma's smoking body out.

"Ranma-chan are you alright?" Sasami asked worriedly which caused the Ranma to crack a smile

"Miyah. Miyah"

Ryoko came over and chuckled, "She says she'll be fine if you cook her some stir-fry with lots of carrots for dinner tonight." This caused a general lightning of the mood and Sasami to promise that she would. Washu came over and smiled at Ranma as she started to get back to her feet.

"That was very good Ran-Ohki-chan. You're learning to control your powers a bit faster than I predicted. You still have a long way to go though. It would help you assimilate them faster if you were willing to go to your ship form." Ranma merely shook her head and sent mentally that she wasn't yet comfortable with the idea. Frankly the idea freaked her out, not just the spaceship part, but the part of having people 'inside' her when she was. It was just too bizarre an idea for her to get comfortable with.

Tendo Dojo

An odd tableau was the group sitting around the table of the Tendo Household. Everyone sat quietly, tea cups steaming in front of them, waiting expectantly for someone else to speak. One half of the table not believing or wanting to believe what they had heard, the other half hoping that they would be able to leave the table alive.

"So let me see if I have this," Nabiki intoned sarcastically. "You turn into a panda, and you want to engage us to your son, who not only turns into some furry-girl but is at this time totally lost to you."

Genma and Soun nodded their heads sagely which caused Nabiki slap her hand to her forehead in exasperation.

"Doesn't that sound, just the least bit unreasonable to either one of you?"

Genma and Soun shook their heads.

Nabiki sighed, oh well she had tried. "Then I think Akane's the perfect choice."

Akane spewed her tea over Genma turning him back into a panda. "WHAT?!"

Kasumi chimed in, "Oh yes I believe so as well."

Akane felt a rising anger and rage burn within her, not being able to bring herself to harm her family; she chose the only other viable option.

Genma didn't even have time to blink before a table slammed down across his head.

Somewhere near Kyoto, Japan

Mihoshi was lost, she should have never walked away from the ship to help that poor kitten, now she had no idea where she was, where her ship was, how to find her friends, nor did she remember what she was supposed to be telling said friends when she found them. Looking desperately around for any sort of assistance her eyes found a well-built man in a bandana that had just crashed through the bushes. Frantically running up to the man she clutched his arm with tears welling in her eyes.

"Please, do you know where the Masaki shrine is?"

Ryouga simply stared at her in shock for a long time. Not even Mihoshi's attractiveness or tears were enough to break through the shock of someone asking him for directions. When his brain finally did recover from this event, Mihoshi was left wondering what had caused the nice man to pass out and bleed like that.

Washu's Laboratory

Washu idly stroked a hand through Ran-Ohki's fur as she continued to stare at the computer display in front of her. One handed she typed rapidly on the holographic keypad while she split her mind's attention between what the screen was displaying and what she felt in Ran-Ohki's mind through the link. She chuckled at a random image that Ranma's mind had called up in her slumber; she had worn herself out today that was for sure. Ranma still had too much pride to have fallen asleep in her lap otherwise, but she was getting better. Her mouth took a slight downward turn, The Neko-ken was deeply ingrained in Ran-Ohki's psyche, and it was going to be a delicate thing to remove it without damaging her further. Deciding to hold off until she could map out the effected areas better, she turned to other less risky business.

Masaki House, Next Day

Ranma was sitting on the porch looking out towards the lake when Sasami came up beside her.

"So, Ranma-chan, you want to play?"

Ranma looked at her quizzically, the only time in her entire life she had ever been asked that was when she was six and she played with Ukyo. 'I really am too old to play games,' Ranma thought to herself. 'She looks so expectant, I think she sort of gets forgotten or taken for granted by everyone here. Besides what could it hurt?' Ranma nodded her head.

"Great, Tag! You're it!" Sasami yelled playfully as she hit Ranma on her back and darted into the field. Ranma looked befuddled for about a half a second before an involuntary smile graced her face and she darted off after Sasami.

"Miyah!"

As Ranma got caught up in the high paced game with Sasami, she gradually lost, at least temporarily, her inhibitions against looking silly or being childish. As she got more and more into the play her body gradually changed, getting smaller; less developed. It wasn't until Sasami darted around a tree and tagged her hours later that either of them noticed the change.

"Wow Ranma, what happened? You look my age! This is great, now we can play all the time!" Sasami exclaimed hugging the dumbstruck girl. Ranma suddenly broke the embrace and with a scared expression ran back towards the house, phasing through the glass doors.

Washu was waiting when Ranma burst into her laboratory in a panic.

"Miyah, Miyah...Miyah!" What has happened to me, how do I change back?

Washu grabbed the panicked girl in a hug and soothed her through the link for a moment before speaking. "There is nothing to worry about Ran-Ohki-chan. The change isn't permanent. Do to your unique nature your shape is somewhat fluid based on your will. Why do you think that you are able to transform from a small Cabbit to your human or ship forms? Why you are by no means a polymorph, you do have the ability to affect the appearance of any of your base forms to a large degree."

Ranma somewhat mollified now looked at Washu. Then why do I look like a 12 year old?

Washu smiled, "Because you wanted to."

"Miyah!" What are you talking about? I don't want to look like a kid! Change me back!

"I can't Ohki-chan, only you can, you simply have to will it and you will."

Then why am I not already back to normal?

"Obviously you don't truly wish to change." Washu sighed at the frowning girl, "Look, you were having a great deal of fun with Sasami. Something you haven't really ever had since you were six. Subconsciously you are staying that way so you can continue to play with your friend without being embarrassed about it. Why not just enjoy it and be whatever age you wish to be?" Washu frowned slightly for a moment before continuing. "Do you think that this is a true representation of my own age? No, I have my own reasons for choosing the age of my body. The point being is that not many have that opportunity. Ranma" She stressed the name, "You've had quite a lot of your childhood stolen by a foolish and abusive man. Why not use this as an opportunity to gain some of it back. I am sure Sasami would appreciate it as well." Washu snapped her fingers and a bucket of warm water splashed Ranma turning her to him.

"....I really wish you would stop doing that." Ranma said talking aloud just because he could. Then he noticed his voice and looked down at himself. Ack! Why am I younger in this form as well?

Washu smirked, "Remember your original form was fused with Ryo-Ohki's, thus what modifications you make to your form in one will have corollary changes in the other."

Ranma paused, deep in thought, before speaking again.

Washu, why do you choose the age you do?

"Because something was once taken from me to," Washu said in a flat faraway voice.

Ranma gave her a quick hug before pulling away again. Thank you Washu-chan, No one's ever cared for me like you. With that Ranma smiled and walked out of the lab, He desperately needed some time alone to collect his thoughts.

Ranma phased through the living room wall to the back deck again. Sasami was sitting with her legs over the side of the deck with an uncertain look on her face that turned to concern when she turned to face Ranma.

"Ranma-kun are you ok?"

Ranma's younger face smiled at her. "I'm fine Sasami-chan, I'm going to go for a walk, thanks for playing with me earlier I had a lot of fun."

.............

As Sasami chopped carrots over the sink she thought back to the short conversation she had with Ranma on the porch. 'Finally a friend my age.' She truly cared about everyone at the shrine and they were nice to her, but they were all too old to really understand her. Besides with Ayeka and Ryoko each trying for Tenchi's attention the only time anyone pays attention to me is meal times, and half of those are interrupted by a fight. Ranma was her friend though, (s)he had played tag like she really enjoyed it. The others mostly pretended when they played with her. 'Ranma must really like me if he changed his age to match mine.' The image of a smiling fur-covered face flashed in her mind. Blushing slightly she came back to herself and continued chopping. In the window pane above her a reflection of an elegant woman smiled knowingly.

Lake, Masaki Shrine

Ranma leaned his back against the large tree trying once again to come to grips with the changes his life insisted on throwing his way. He had just begun to adjust to life here, and once again his self perceptions were turned on their head. 'Was Washu right, should I embrace this as an opportunity to get back something I lost? Maybe make a true friend.' It seemed the perfect fit when he thought about it. Washu and Ryoko were like the mother and older sibling he never had and Sasami could be his best friend without the awkwardness of their age difference between them. All the things he had been taken from in his life seemed to have just been waiting for him here. Ranma was really to simplistic a person to brood over something for long and so finally decided to just try to accept it. He just hoped life would hold on the curve balls for awhile.

A week ago Ranma would have told anyone that asked that his fur covered form was the result of the greatest act of stupidity his father ever committed. Ranma smirked, that statement was still valid, but Jusenkyo just might have been the best thing to ever happen to him. Ranma stood up and started back towards the house, he wondered if his father was having as good of luck with his curse.

Tokyo Zoo

Genma sat in the panda enclosure growling irritably. Some wise guy from animal control had delivered him here hours ago after shooting him with a tranquilizer dart. He still felt a little to groggy to attempt an escape, so merely held up a sign requesting hot water and hoped some benevolent tourist would take pity on him.

Somewhere a Kami laughed at the thought of anyone taking pity on Genma Saotome.

Tendo Dojo

Akane slowly made her way home from school, brooding about her alleged transforming fiancé. 'The nerve of that Saotome, and her own father going along with him! Then just as she thought that Nabiki was going to talk the two idiots out of it she turns Judas and offers me up to the lions!' It was because of this internal fuming that she didn't notice someone was in her path until she ran into them, knocking them both over. Looking up while rubbing her backside she saw an exotic looking woman in a very tight outfit that looked like she was on the verge of tears while a large guy about her age tried to help her up and was pleading for her not to cry again.

"I'm sorry," Akane said standing up and bowing. "I wasn't paying attention. Are you alright?"

The girl's eyes seemed to clear up instantly and a cheery smile sprung to life on her face.

"That's okay. You wouldn't happen to know where the Masaki shrine is would you? Oh and Ryouga here is looking for a guy named....named....Ranma, that's it."

Somewhere in Japan

Shampoo smiled as she walked north down the road. The vendor had seen the strange furred girl that had defeated her pass by two weeks ago, she was slowly catching up. It was strange that her Great-Grandmother had told her only to track the girl for now, and send back word as soon as she settled somewhere. Great-Grandmother must have sensed something very unusual about the girl besides her fur for her to put on hold Amazon law. Shampoo wondered what it could be.

Masaki Household

Everyone was once again sitting down to dinner when a loud bang followed by a muffled explosion was heard from the hallway. Turning Washu's face filled with shock and horror while Ranma's Face filled with puzzlement.

"MIHOSHI!" Washu exclaimed

"Miyah?" Ryouga?


End file.
